1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for attaching to the edge of a table for catching food and other debris, which a child in a seat that is also attached to the table may drop or throw.
2. The Prior Art
Infants and young children spill, drop or throw food, utensils, dishes and just about anything else put in front of them. As those activities cannot be stopped, the problem facing parents is to minimize the damage caused by that activity. One method concentrates on the chair or a tray attached to the chair. Another approach is to guard the floor. It is common to place a sheet of plastic or fabric on the floor under the child.
There have been proposed attachments to child seats for catching the food and other debris. Decker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,736 (1967) is an attachment to the legs of a high chair. It is cumbersome to carry a high chair when taking a young child to a restaurant or someone's home. Small portable seats, which attach directly to the edge of a table, have come into favor. They are especially useful in restaurants because they are compact and allow food for the infant to be placed directly on the table. Fornetti, U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,965 (1962) and Barnhill, U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,229 (1966) are examples of such seats. The later patent describes a carrier in which the infant normally lies rather than sits. There are currently several similar carriers marketed today.
An object of the present invention is to disclose and provide a device for use with such an infant or child chair for catching debris and other objects that the child might throw or drop. A further object is to make the device easily transportable by having it light weight and collapsible. Another object is to make the device adjustable so that the material that catches the food or other debris can be positioned off the floor but out of contact with the child's feet. A further object is to have the device extend forward of the infant to catch food or other debris that the infant or baby may throw forward. Extending the device forward also tends to catch spills.